Surveys consistently show that the majority of seniors want to stay in their own home as they age. A number of eldercare technologies can make doing so safer for them. Many of these technological advances have been geared towards the families of the elderly. Innovation in technology has changed all our lives significantly. Technology has had little positive impact on the lives of our senior loved ones who are living independently at home.

The key 5 eldercare technologies are:

Communication tools: One of the most innovative tools in terms of communication has been built by Mavencare. Mavencare has built its eldercare technologies to provide home care with revolutionary convenience, quality, and transparency. Mavencare’s cutting edge mobile technology provides updates throughout the home care appointment straight to senior’s family and loved one’s phone. Read more.

Safety: Any vulnerable senior that lives alone should have a Personal Emergency Response System. This device allows the senior to signal for help with the simple push of a button. Safety is especially a concern for those who suffer from Alzheimer's disease and are prone to wandering. A number of tracking devices monitor a senior's location thereby giving peace of mind to the families of the elderly.

Mental and Physical Exercise – Games get seniors minds and bodies working: Many of the Long-Term Care Facilities have benefited from recreational games, which stimulate the elderly both physically and mentally. Recently, there have been technology-based games geared towards the elderly who are aging at home.

Online Medication Management: One significant challenge families face is keeping track of their loved one’s medication intake. Those with dementia can easily forget or be confused and are at risk of taking the wrong medication, incorrect doses or medication at the wrong time. Of course, the pillboxes help but there are several technological software solutions, which serve as medication reminders.

Tracking health information: There are quite a number of smartphone apps and web portals, which can track a senior’s medical history, medication schedule, key physician contacts, and medical progress. These tools can be easily accessible by health care professionals are useful to them in receiving the most up to date information.

The elderly and their families are not the only ones benefiting from elder care technologies. Paid and unpaid caregivers are big benefactors of the latest technological innovations in this sector. Mavencare has always considered its caregiver workforce as integral to its business and accordingly has deployed many of its technological resources to building out useful tools for its caregivers. Mavencare successfully finds jobs for its caregivers based on the caregiver’s location, personal and cultural interests, and skills sets.

We are witnessing an unprecedented period of time where there is a vast development of eldercare technologies in optimizing all aspects of everyday life. Technology for elder care has great potential for improving the quality of life for all stakeholders, who include the senior herself; the family of the loved one and the heath care practitioners.

As eldercare technologies improve we can anticipate more intelligent and sophisticated technologies being increasingly used in the healthcare space:

As our population ages, there is a greater probability a larger proportion of the population developing a disability or chronic illness. Many of the elderly are unable to perform one or more self-care tasks such as the activities of daily living.

Naturally, the elderly require more health care services than the rest of the population and ultimately absorb higher health care costs than any other demographic. Eldercare technologies can reduce these costs and can ultimately better the lives of the elderly and everyone around them.

Stay tuned for our next post The Role of the caregiver as a part of our Seniors' Month Series. Subscribe to our mailing list!

If you or a loved one requires respite care in the Greater Toronto or Calgary areas, book a free senior care assessment with Mavencare and get first 3hrs free when you book 10 or more hours.